Whiteout (Aurora Sky

by Nikki Jefford

  I didn’t answer. There was nothing to say. Jab was connected to Nelson, Arlo, and Pierce. Stacey was so dead. She might even be the woman Arlo had mentioned getting out of hand, but I doubted that. From the sounds of it, Pixie had delivered some other unfortunate girl south of Fairbanks. Nicole said Jab had invited Stacey away for the weekend. Where had he taken her? Had he shared her with his friends? Or did he have himself a private suck, screw, and kill?

  My fingernails bit into my tightened palms. Forget the whole catch-and-release plan. I wanted to kill Jab.

  Dante shifted the weight of the bags on his hips. “I know you think I’m being a cowboy, but it’s difficult for me to turn a blind eye to this type of activity.”

  “I understand,” I said softly, eyes shifting out of focus. “These kind of vamps make me sick.”

  A memory of Arlo pushing me into his couch flickered through my mind. I wouldn’t wish that fate on anyone.

  Spruce trees surrounded us, creeping around the cabin while gray smoke curled into the night sky from the chimney. Tommy stayed close by as though sensing we were about to abandon him. Despite my misgivings, Nicole and Buck had been quick and kind to take him in, especially when they had their own problems to worry about.

  “Where would we get disguises?” I heard myself ask Dante. The words came out on their own as though my body was suddenly under control by a ventriloquist. Ugh. Those things always creeped me out.

  “Good thing Value Village is open until nine,” Dante said. He turned and wiggled his ass at me. “And I’ve still got leftover cash burning a hole in my back pocket.”

  “Yes, I’m sure pizzas and costumes were exactly what Giselle had in mind when she parted ways with her precious twenties.”

  “Hey, haven’t spent it on a motel… yet.” Dante winked.

  I laughed. “This situation is so not funny.”

  Dante headed toward the cabin. “Yeah, well, laughter keeps us from going insane. Just look at Melcher. I bet he hasn’t laughed in over a hundred years, if he’s ever laughed at all. And we know how sane he is.”

  I caught up to Dante and groaned. “The only thing Melcher knows how to do is threaten people and make them do his bidding. Despite everything, it feels great to get away from that psycho.”

  “I know what you mean,” Dante said.

  Now that we were headed in, Tommy decided to sniff around the cabin. When Dante whistled for him, the retriever came at once.

  It felt good hearing Dante agree with me. He could have easily blamed me for endangering him and his family, not to mention Tommy. I was the one who wanted to get away from the agency. I led Giselle to Anchorage. But Dante took everything in stride. His sense of duty never wavered, no matter what the situation. He was a good man and a good friend.

  I opened the cabin door for him and Tommy, entering behind them. Dante set the bags of dog food against the wall. Tommy walked over and looked from the bags to Dante. Dante patted him on the head. “This is only temporary, buddy. I’ll be back soon.”

  Nicole joined them. “Hey, Tommy. We’re going to take good care of you while Dante’s away. Do you like belly rubs?”

  Tommy’s tail swished from side to side briefly then stopped. He looked at Dante again.

  This was pure torture.

  Tommy lowered his head and looked at Dante, face drooping. My throat tightened.

  Dante cleared his throat and looked at me. “Ready to go?”

  I nodded.

  “Do you need a place to stay for the night?” Buck asked.

  “It’s time for us to go, but thanks,” Dante answered. “We’ll check out Chillers on our way out of town. Doesn’t hurt to ask around.”

  Nicole’s eyes shone with unshed tears. “That’s very kind of you. If you find out anything at all, please let us know.”

  “We will,” Dante said. He leaned forward and gave Tommy one last pet. “Be back soon, boy.”

  I walked past them and opened the door. I had to get out of there before I cried in front of everyone. It would only distress Tommy and make departure more emotional than it already was.

  Dante followed on my heels.

  “It’s for the best, Sky,” he said once we were outside.

  “I know, but it still sucks.”

  We got in the truck. I felt another stab of pain climbing in without Tommy. I’d gotten so used to the furball. Even now his eyes pierced through my brain. I swallowed past a lump in my throat.

  Dante’s fingers tightened around the steering wheel. “I want to take all these suckers down. Melcher. Jared. Jab. I thought I worked for the good guys. Now I find out Melcher threatened Nicole and her family. Who does he think he is, abusing power this way? And he had no right to force vampirism on us.” Dante’s fists squeezed tighter, and the wheel groaned under his death grip.

  I placed a hand on Dante’s arm. “We’ll find a way to stop him. Misdirection, remember?”

  A ghost of a smile appeared over Dante’s lips. Slowly, his fingers relaxed on the wheel. He started the truck and backed up, facing away from the cabin. Each bump in the road seemed to loosen him up.

  Once out of the woods he even began humming.

  “So. Chillers,” I said. “Sounds cozy.”

  Dante stopped humming. “That joint always did attract a rowdy bunch.”

  “You used to go there?”

  “From time to time. Like Nicole said, there’s not a whole lot to do in this town. I kept busy with sports, but when my friends and I were in the mood for a night out, there weren’t a lot of under-twenty-one options.”

  “It’s an under-twenty-one club?”

  “Affirmative.”

  “That’s good. I still have my agency-issued fake ID, but I’d rather not flash my photo to the bouncer—even though we’re aiming for misdirection. Don’t want the cat out of the bag too soon.”

  “Agreed,” Dante said, pulling on his baseball cap.

  I pushed my hair over my shoulder. “Maybe they’ll have a blond wig or something. I need to do something about my hair.”

  Dante looked at me with a widening grin. “Maybe I can find you a Marilyn Monroe costume.”

  “The point is to NOT attract attention,” I said with an eye roll.

  “I suppose I can’t talk you into going in as a sexy cheerleader.”

  I stuck my tongue out in disgust. “You wish. No goth wear either,” I said. “I’m not wearing a short skirt or corset.”

  “Come on, Sky. No six-inch heels and fishnets?”

  “Not a chance,” I said firmly. This wasn’t boot camp. No one could order me to wear high heels. “Black pants and a black tank top. That’s as goth as I get. What about you?” I asked Dante. I looked him over and smirked. “Trench coat and eyeliner. I can see it now.”

  Dante grinned back at me. “I was thinking more along the lines of bush pilot.”

  Yeah, bush pilot fit him much better. There was no way Dante could pull off goth.

  As Dante pulled into the parking lot of Value Village, he pointed to the banner above the doors. “Halloween sale. We’re in luck.”

  Now that was suave masquerading. Discount Halloween accessories. Welcome to vampire hunting on a budget.

  Dante pulled the bill of his cap down. “Wait here just in case. I’ll be right back.”

  “Hey. Keys,” I said when Dante pulled them out of the ignition. I wasn’t going to freeze my ass off waiting for him.

  He grinned and stuck the keys back in the ignition.

  “And no fishnets!” I called after him.

  The door slammed behind him and I sighed, stretching my legs out. If our plan worked, I wouldn’t have to spend my life inside this truck much longer. The first thing I’d do when we got back to Anchorage was find Fane. Well, actually, I’d need to find Noel first—walk into West High in disguise. There’s no way Fane would lose contact with Noel. She was the closest link to me and anything the agency had up their sleeves.

  Hopefully his relief at seeing me would trump
the anger he must feel at being left behind. I would never leave Fane like that again. It was time to put the past behind us and move forward into the future… together.

  It wasn’t long before Dante returned, carrying a large plastic sack. He tossed it onto the middle seat and got in. “Jackpot,” he said. “They’ve got everything in there.”

  I dug through the bag, my eyes catching on sleek, shiny, black material.

  I held up a pair of vinyl short shorts. “What the hell is this?”

  Dante grabbed the bag and reached inside. “Before you say anything, let me point out those are shorts, not a skirt.” Then he pulled out black tights and combat boots. “And these are lace stockings, not fishnets. And look at the boots. No heels.” He held a boot in front of my face.

  My eyes narrowed. The up-close view wasn’t helping.

  He set the boots on the floor of the truck beside my feet.

  “Wait, there’s more.”

  There was more? Great.

  He pulled out a long, royal blue wig. I took the wig from him and stared at the mop of bright cobalt strands.

  Never mind blond—I was going blue.

  He dug through the bag and wrapped his fingers around something I couldn’t see.

  “Check this out,” Dante said, opening his fingers. Before I had a chance to look inside his palm, he lifted a fake mustache to his face and held it under his nose.

  I snorted. Oh yeah, that was suave. Dante would blend in no problem, unlike me with cotton-candy-colored hair.

  Dante smoothed on his fake mustache and put on a pair of aviator sunglasses. He leaned against the steering wheel and smiled at me. “Ready. Set. Go.”

  “Maybe you are,” I said. “But where am I supposed to change?”

  “In the truck,” Dante said as though that should have been obvious.

  After some quick deliberation, I sighed, pulled out my gun, and stuffed it inside the glove box before loosening my belt holster.

  “Good thinking,” Dante said, pulling out his own gun. “They won’t allow weapons in the club.” He stuffed his gun beneath his seat.

  Once free of the belt, I unzipped my jeans. I paused to look around the parking lot and, seeing that the coast was clear, tugged my jeans down my thighs.

  “Mind turning up the heat?” I asked.

  Dante’s hand shot forward. The air vents blasted at full speed when he gave the knob a quick twist.

  “… and looking away,” I added.

  “It’s dark out and I’ve got sunglasses on,” Dante said. “I’m practically blind.” He leaned back against his door, aviators pointed my way.

  I didn’t care enough to repeat myself. We’d already kissed and slept in the same bed. As long as he didn’t make a move, he could watch if he wanted. He was annoying, but he was also comfortable—like an old sock. And I wasn’t stripping entirely.

  To get the lace stockings on, I had to lie on my back and lift my legs in the air. The vinyl shorts took some tugging.

  “Enjoying the show?” I asked when I noticed the smile on Dante’s lips.

  Practically blind my ass.

  Once changed, I pulled on the blue wig, making sure to tuck every strand of black hair inside. I smoothed the blue hair over my shoulders and turned to Dante.

  “How do I look?”

  The mustache lifted with his lips. “Like a sexy Smurf.”

  I rolled my eyes. “As long as I don’t look like me.”

  “What about me?” Dante asked, leaning into the rearview mirror for a look at himself.

  Bush pilot definitely fit him. That didn’t stop me from teasing. “I think you should have gone goth and I should have gone in as Amelia Earhart.”

  Dante put the car in drive. “We’re after vamps, remember? Not locals out to hook up.”

  I tried to tug the shorts down my legs a bit, but they weren’t going anywhere. The things were molded to my thighs.

  At least Chillers gave us a distraction from Tommy. But after this, I wanted to go after the big fish. No more dipping into small ponds. If we ever hoped to live in the open, we needed to deal with Melcher. I wasn’t going to wear a wig forever. Nor was I going to spend my life hiding.

  14

  Chillers

  Dante turned the radio on. I hardly noticed him singing along, as I was too buried in thought, plotting Melcher’s demise.

  A little while later Dante stopped singing. “Here we are,” he said.

  I jumped. I’d been so deep in the zone, I hadn’t noticed the drive across town.

  Outside the windshield, I saw an ugly concrete building at the end of a parking lot.

  “It looks like a warehouse.”

  Dante pulled into a spot near the entrance. “It’s a lot nicer inside,” he said.

  I held back a snort. “I’m sure it’s the epitome of refinement. How do we bag ourselves a vamp?” I wondered aloud. “We just go in and hang out until the right candidate approaches us?”

  My heart picked up speed. Socializing. Now there was something to get nervous about. Striking up conversations with strangers.

  Rather than answer, Dante got out of the truck. Eager beaver. I slid out, cold air prickling my arms and legs when I left the warmth of the cab.

  Dante stepped in front of me and brushed the blue hair over my shoulder, out of the way. He scrutinized my neck. “Keep your hair back so the vamps see you’ve been bitten. We need to show them you’re aware of their existence. That you’re open to their advances.”

  I touched the spot on my neck that Arlo had bitten and grimaced.

  As we walked across the parking lot, I wrapped my arms around my chest. I shivered with each step, the cold piercing my legs. It seeped into every tiny hole in the lace stockings.

  Big neon blue letters spelled out CHILLERS over the entrance to the club. A large dude dressed in black shined a flashlight over our faces and said, “Ten dollars.” Once Dante forked over the cash, he nodded for us to enter without asking for IDs. It was so quick I didn’t have time to stress.

  “Okay, we’re in,” Dante whispered by my ear. “Time to split up.”

  Before I could respond, he disappeared into the crowd. The place was so packed, people were milling around the entrance in tight clusters.

  Well, I wasn’t standing around the open door with the cold air wafting in.

  From outside, the club had looked like one big warehouse. Inside, it was broken up into rooms. A wall separated the space into two smaller rooms beyond the entrance. I joined the flow of body traffic moving along the left side. It was like a slow current taking me past a long counter lined with stools on one side and booths on the other.

  Young clubgoers drank from cans of Coke, Fanta, and Mountain Dew. Clothing was extremely casual—mostly jeans on both men and women. Some of the women dressed it up with snazzy halter tops, but many more wore T-shirts. As I passed a brunette wearing a black-and-white MEOW tee, she emptied a mini bottle of vodka into her glass of soda.

  Gotta love the youth of America. We didn’t need a number to tell us when we could drink.

  People were dancing in an area where the room opened up ahead. There was a stage above it with speakers set up at the sides, and more tables and booths flanked the dance space.

  After nearly a month on the run, the pounding music, strobe lights, and sweating bodies were a shock to my system. My head pounded. This wasn’t my scene. It had never been my scene.

  “Teal?” a guy asked from behind me. “Is that you?” He touched my shoulder. I spun around and his eyebrows lowered. “Sorry, I thought you were someone else.”

  I nearly rolled my eyes. Great pick-up line. Real original. I couldn’t wait to hear the next one. The guy surprised me by moving on.

  Okay, he really had mistaken me for someone else. Let me guess, this Teal person had blue hair.

  Standing alone felt like standing out. There were girls dancing alone around the stage, and I squeezed through the crowd until I was surrounded on all sides by twisting bodies
. I moved with the music. I felt safe here. Anonymous. The music played loud, and it pulsed and throbbed through my body, putting me into a trance.

  A stocky guy in a T-shirt and baseball cap swayed to the music. There weren’t many guys on the dance floor, and he was the only one dancing solo. He moved around groups of girls as though attracted to their body heat.

  As he closed in on a girl in a pink sequin halter top, she moved away. Undeterred, he next tried her friend. She too moved to the side. The lone dancer reminded me of an insect trying to attach himself to the first unsuspecting female. This particular insect didn’t bother with one-liners. He didn’t bother with conversation, period.

  A smile played over my lips at his failed attempts until he swayed in my direction.

  Before I had time to flit away, he was dry humping me from behind, his hands clamped over my hips.

  Oh hell no!

  No hesitation. Wow. Even if he had useful information to share, which I highly doubted, it wasn’t worth grinding to get it out of him.

  I twisted around and shoved him in the chest. “Buzz off.”

  He regained his footing and swayed with the music as though he hadn’t just been rebuffed. He’d never even looked me in the eyes.

  I pushed my way through the dancers. Way to ruin my solo dance number, fly boy.

  I walked over to the nearest pillar, stopping beside it, and twisted my wrist.

  “You look like you could use a drink,” a raspy male voice said.

  To my right, a young man in jeans and a tan jacket smiled at me. From his voice, I’d expected someone older and more rugged, but he was clean shaven with silky hair and looked to be in his early twenties. He didn’t show teeth when he grinned, but the way his eyes locked onto my neck wound screamed vampire. It was more than a fleeting glance. His irises brightened the longer he looked.

  He was right about one thing. I could use a drink. A thick red one fresh from the vein. But blood never seemed to be on the table, unless it was a male vamp wanting it.

  I really needed to do more biting, if only for the sake of women’s lib. Lady vamps shouldn’t put up with inequality any more than humans.

  The vamp, if I was correct in that assumption, sidled up to me. Once standing a foot apart, he opened his coat and pulled a flask halfway out of an interior pocket.